Westport United development rejected by Mayo County Council

Westport United development rejected by county council


Local residents welcome decision

Edwin McGreal

Westport United Chairman Frank Gillivan has expressed his ‘disappointment’ with the news that Mayo County Council have rejected a renewed planning application for club grounds in Aughagower.
An initial application was accepted by Mayo County Council in January 2008  only to then be overturned by An Bord PleanΡla after an appeal by local residents and landowners.
However a renewed application was this time turned down at the first fence when Mayo County Council last week announced that they were rejecting the application for the facility in the townlands of Lugreveagh and Mountbrown for two reasons.
The first was that the development would ‘seriously injure the visual amenities of the area and would be contrary to proper planning and sustainable development of the area’ while the second reason cited the local road network, stating that it was ‘substandard’ and ‘deficient in terms of alignment and width’.
We’re very disappointed with this news,” Westport United Chairman Frank Gillivan told The Mayo News yesterday. “Last time Mayo County Council had no problem with our application and now they do. We tackled the issues highlighted by An Bord PleanΡla in terms of flooding concerns and sewerage and the road but this refusal does seem strange. Different people (in Mayo County Council) seem to deal with different issues at different times so it comes down to someone’s interpretation.
“We have put a lot of time and effort and money into this application and we have over 300 young players and adults on top of that who need playing facilities. We haven’t decided our next course of action because we haven’t met as a committee since the decision but we will rule nothing in or not in relation to Aughagower.”
Meanwhile Seosamh O Maolcheoen, a spokesman for 25 ‘concerned residents and landowners’ stated that they ‘accepted and respected’ the decision of Mayo County Council. A submission by O Maolcheoen et al was one of six submissions sent to Mayo County Council in respect of the renewed application by Westport United.
Among the nine reasons O Maolcheoen et al put forward in their submission was: the site is not served by public transport and totally vehicular dependent; noise, light and litter concerns; the area is prone to flooding; lack of clarity in relation to potential for future development; more suitable locations in Westport; and that the country roads around the site are ‘deficient in terms of alignment and width’.
The refusal by An Bord PleanΡla cited problems with flooding, sewerage and the road network around the Aughagower site.
However Westport United’s development committee were satisfied that they had addressed these three issues when submitting the renewed application.
They created a new entrance, employed a hydrologist to create a 1,000 year flooding report and moved and upgraded the septic tank and proposed sewerage systems.
The proposed facilities included a clubhouse, changing rooms with proprietary treatment system, parking facilities, playing pitch, access road and all ancillary facilities.
It remains to be seen if the club will appeal to An Bord PleanΡla.